Disruptors are used to disarm or render inoperable an explosive. Typically, the disruptors are fired from a remote location. Personnel typically set up a stand near an explosive device and attach the disruptor to the stand so it is aimed at the explosive. The disruptor is then fired from a remote, safe location.
It is also known to equip a mobile remotely controlled robot with a disruptor. That way, personnel need not ever position themselves too close to the explosive device. Typically, the disruptor is mounted to a manipulatable arm of the robot so the disruptor can be correctly aimed and positioned. But, the robot arm is often susceptible to damage caused by the shock force produced by the recoil of the disruptor when fired.
Various recoil mitigation techniques have been tried. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,889,594; 6,745,663; and 6,578,464 (incorporated herein by this reference), for example, disclose a brake attached to the disruptor barrel and frictionally received in a guide tube fixed to a support frame or a robot.
With some munitions, such a recoil mitigation system may not adequately arrest the weapon. With some clamping friction designs, the barrel of the robot, upon firing, can itself fly out of its mount and become a rearward projectile. Or, the robot or its components may be damaged if too much frictional force is applied. The assignee hereof also provided a prior disruptor mount in an attempt to mitigate recoil via frictional forces. The amount of friction, however, was not readily adjustable, was not repeatable due to wear and/or intolerances, and the set value of the frictional force was difficult to determine by the user.
Breech vent recoil mitigation techniques may rob the weapon of performance and reduce the muzzle velocity of the projectile used. Various shock absorber techniques proved to be costly, heavy, and difficult to implement due to the preference to accommodate a long stroke of the disruptor barrel.